US President Donald Trump said he would be “quite disappointed” if his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping broke a personal promise not to arm Iran.
His comment on Wednesday came alongside renewed accusations that long-time US health official Anthony Fauci, who led the US response to Covid-19, helped shield Beijing from scrutiny over the origins of the pandemic.
Separately, Reuters reported that Iran was expected to receive 300 to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile systems within weeks.
The report said the weapons would be flown from western China through Pakistan under a deal valued at US$60 million to US$70 million.
On Thursday, the foreign ministry in Beijing rejected the report, saying the claims were “untrue and not factual at all”.
The ministry said China remained committed to de-escalation and bringing an end to the conflict.
China had also rejected as “completely groundless” a report before the Trump visit in May that China was supplying weapons to Iran.
Asked about the latest report, Trump said he would find it “surprising”, saying of Xi that “he told me very strongly he wouldn’t partake. But he knows I’d be quite disappointed.”
Trump then noted that the Chinese leader was scheduled to visit the United States on September 24.
Hours earlier, Trump launched a lengthy attack on his social media platform as Fauci appeared before a Senate committee and declined to answer several questions by invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Trump renewed his long-standing claim that Covid-19 originated in a laboratory in Wuhan and accused Fauci of consistently trying to “protect China”.
“I said from the beginning that the virus came from the Wuhan Laboratory in China. Fauci strongly disagreed, always trying to protect China,” he said in the social media post.
Trump has repeatedly promoted the theory that the virus leaked from a Wuhan laboratory, while the broader scientific consensus has leaned towards a natural spillover from animals.
Trump’s mixed signals
The latest exchange is another example of the mixed signals that have defined Trump’s China policy: fierce public attacks on Beijing alongside efforts to keep diplomatic channels open.
Last week, the “America first” president said that in his “opinion” China and Russia were not “participating” in the Iran war.
Trump claimed that Xi promised during their meeting in May in Beijing that China would not assist Tehran under any circumstances. “Considering our relationship, I take him at his word,” the US leader added.
However, Trump also issued a warning, saying that “if they did, it would be very bad for them – certainly not in their best interests”.
The comments marked a striking contrast with the administration’s rhetoric just 12 days earlier.
In a prime-time address, Trump accused Beijing of carrying out “the largest compromise of election data in history”, claiming China had illicitly obtained 220 million US voter files.
Trump also declassified documents that he said supported his claim and spoke of an “unprecedented election security nightmare”.
Yet since that speech, the Trump administration has announced no new sanctions, trade penalties or diplomatic consequences targeting China over the alleged interference. Instead, planning for Xi’s September visit has continued. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
